Ruh roh. Mark Wahlberg is getting pulled back into DA LIFE. If you ever wondered what a Liam Neeson thriller mashed up with your average Jason Statham movie — with a much better cast — would look like, here’s “Contraband” to give you an idea.
Directed by Baltasar Kormakur, who starred in the Icelandic original “Reykjavik-Rotterdam” (yep, it’s a remake), and penned by Black List-approved Aaron Guzikowski (the guy who penned the once hot “Prisoners“), the film follows a security guard and former smuggler (Wahlberg) who, facing financial troubles, is roped back into his old ways. So what does that mean? He’ll have to square off against a scenery-chewing, gun-toting Giovanni Ribisi, deal with J.K. Simmons‘ amazing moustache, and walk around very slowly while some very hype beats play in the background. Diego Luna and Lukas Haas seem to be repping his crew while Kate Beckinsale does an admirable job as the lithe, hottie girlfriend. All in all this will either be an above average B-movie thriller or just pure schlock, but with an early 2012 release it might be somewhere in between. We’re not expecting awards here, but if this can deliver some smart genre thrills, then we’ll be happy enough.
“Contraband” hits theaters on January 13, 2012. Trailer and a bunch of images from the movie below.
Isn\’t it mandatory for Wahlberg to follow up a hit (The Fighter) with something lame and tiring? Case in point- The Departed and then Shooter. Folks, we have ourselves a pattern.
I\’ll give it to Markey Mark, dude has laid a serious pimp hand on Hollywood. Only reason he still gets to make movies is because he\’s made serious cash for people with TV. If it was up to his acting alone…..Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit
Formula: Mark Wahlberg + Muuuch better actors around him=Greenlight
\”Oh No! Look out, here comes that underwear model!!\” LOL
The January release date means this will be \”pure schlock\”.
Mark Wahlberg is always a hit & miss in my book, performance wise and his film choices.
Will watch this. I find most statham/neeson movies mildly entertaining/watchable anyway, not that they\’re great… but Mark Whlberg should class up the joint enough. Then again, Shooter was pretty lame.